Trump's vulgar rebuff of migrants may backfire domestically

By Laura Litvan, Erik Wasson and Sahil Kapur

UpdatedJanuary 13, 2018 — 8.50pmfirst published at 11.23am

Washington: Apart from drawing condemnation from around the world, US President Donald Trump's comments about African countries and Haiti have put the White House and Republicans on the defensive while blowing up negotiations on a potential immigration deal.

That in turn, pushes both sides to harden their positions and raises the risk of sinking talks aimed at averting a government shutdown at the end of next week.

The ill-will was illustrated on Friday when a senior Democratic senator said the President used "hate-filled, vile and racist" language about immigrants from African nations and Haiti in a meeting with seven lawmakers on Thursday. He essentially called Trump's subsequent denial that he used such words a lie.

"My thought that we might get a bipartisan agreement approved by the White House died yesterday," Illinois Senator Dick Durbin told reporters. He denounced the comments again in a later statement, adding that "the clock is ticking" toward a shutdown in seven days.

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President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House.Credit:Evan Vucci

The chaos on immigration comes a week before the current government spending authorisation expires on January 19. Although Republicans hold control of Congress, their thin margin in the Senate means Democratic votes will be needed for any stopgap funding measure as well as for a broader budget agreement. Already, Congress has had to pass three short-term extensions of spending authority, to keep government departments functioning and buy time to agree on funding priorities for the fiscal year that began October 1.

Democratic leaders have insisted that Congress must pass a law protecting young immigrants, known as Dreamers, from deportation along with the funding. After telling lawmakers earlier this week that he's willing to sign whatever compromise on immigration they presented, Trump rejected a plan worked out on Thursday by a bipartisan group of six senators, and savaged the proposal on Twitter Friday as "a big step backwards."

Trump inflamed an already raging immigration debate by questioning why the US accepts immigrants from "shithole countries" like Haiti, El Salvador and African nations rather than places like Norway, according to three people briefed on the exchange.

The President said his remarks were "tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!"

Donald Trump, right, speaks as Chuck Grassley, centre, and Lindsey Graham, left, listen during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.Credit:ALEX WONG

DACA is the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that Democrats and many Republicans want to enshrine into law. It refers to migrant children who arrives in the US unaccompanied and have been trying to build a life for themselves, the so-called Dreamers. It's central to the plan put forth by the group of senators that also would provide money for border security (Trump still wants a wall on the Mexican border), end a visa lottery system, and limit family-based migration for DACA recipients. Trump has announced the program will end on March 5 if Congress doesn't act.

Durbin, the only Democrat at Thursday's White House meeting, said Trump used the derogatory language and did so repeatedly.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.Credit:Andrew Harrer

"I cannot believe that in the history of the White House, in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday," Durbin said at a televised news conference. "To no surprise, the President started tweeting this morning denying that he used those words. It is not true. He said those hateful things and he said them repeatedly."

Durbin said that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, part of the bipartisan Senate group, "spoke up" and directly addressed what the President said. "I was very proud of him. It took courage for what he did," Durbin said.

Immigrant rights supporters hold giant letters reading 'Dream Act' as they demonstrate in favour of Congress preventing the deportation of young immigrants.Credit:LYNNE SLADKY

Graham released a statement that didn't explicitly confirm what Trump said, but it didn't contradict Durbin's version of events.

"Following comments by the President, I said my piece directly to him yesterday," Graham said. "The President and all those attending the meeting know what I said and how I feel. I've always believed that America is an idea, not defined by its people but by its ideals."

Democrat Senator Dick Durbin.Credit:KIICHIRO SATO

Republican Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue - who attended the meeting - didn't specifically deny Trump made the remarks but said in a joint statement "We do not recall the President saying these comments specifically but what he did call out was the imbalance in our current immigration system."

Trump, who signed a proclamation honouring civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr at a White House ceremony on Friday, ignored shouted questions from reporters about the remarks.

At an appearance in Milwaukee, House Speaker Paul Ryan pointed to his own Irish ancestors' migration to America.

"The first thing that came to my mind was very unfortunate, unhelpful," the Republican said

Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who wasn't in the meeting but was part of the Senate group working on a compromise, said "The words used by the President, as related to me directly following the meeting by those in attendance, were not 'tough', they were abhorrent and repulsive."

The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Democratic Representative Cedric Richmond, said the President's statement "reinforces the concerns that we hear every day, that the President's slogan Make America Great Again is really code for Make America White Again."

Richmond and Representative Jerrold Nadler, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said they would introduce a House censure resolution condemning Trump's comments next week. However it's unlikely that Ryan and other Republican leaders who control the agenda would let it advance to a vote.

An immigration hard-liner in Congress, Republican Steve King, tweeted support for Trump's remarks: "If those countries aren't as you described, Democrats should be happy to deport criminal aliens back to them."

The blow-up over immigration creates a complicated mix for lawmakers, who have only four days of work next week due to Monday's Martin Luther King holiday.

A Senate Republican leadership aide said GOP leaders have been clear that the spending fight and an immigration bill should be entirely separate, and expressed confidence that both parties will ultimately agree to keep the government running.

With the deadline a week away, the Office of Management and Budget scheduled a call with federal agencies on Friday to go over procedures in the event of a shutdown, as is routine in the circumstances, spokesman Meghan Burris said.

Wall funding

The six senators led by Graham and Durbin proposed providing $US2.8 billion for border security, including $US1.6 billion for a wall or fence, technical surveillance and agent training, and $US1.2 billion for other border priorities.

Trump has been an erratic negotiator, sending mixed signals throughout his presidency on how he would help young immigrantsand what kind of border wall he is demanding.

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At a White House meeting on January 9, Trump seemed to agree with Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein to support passage of a "clean" bill aiding the young immigrants, only to be reminded by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, that his demands go much further.